YORK COUNTY — The global pandemic forced an early end to the Williamsburg Players’ 2020-2021 season, but the community theatre is ready to reopen to the public with a whole new lineup.
The Williamsburg Players, 200 Hubbard Ln, announced their 2021-2022 season, which begins in September and runs through June.
The community theatre program was in the middle of rehearsals for the spring production of “The Scarlet Pimpernel” last year, when they realized they would have to cancel the rest of their spring schedule.
But the Players have been dedicated to bringing back live entertainment since.
The theatre began experimenting with outdoor shows in the fall and returned in the spring with a series of outdoor cabaret performances that began in May.
The shows were held in the parking lot of the Williamsburg Players theater to allow for the safety of the actors and audience members.
Now the program will return to their 300-seat house for the ‘21-22 season, which features a lineup of original plays and classic musicals.
The ‘21-22 season will open with “Lilies on the Land”, a play by the Lion’s Part.
Directed by Amy Stallings, the show will tell the funny and moving story of four women who sign up to join the Women’s Land Army in 1940s England during World War II.
Based on 150 letters and interviews with real Land Girls, “Lilies on Land” follows four women from different walks of life who are determined to work hard hours on farms across the country to support the War Effort.
The show will run September 9-25.
The second show of the season, “Squabbles,” comes from playwright Marshall Karp.
Directed by Julie King, the comedy follows a husband and wife dealing with a household of crazy in-laws, while expecting their first child. This show will run November 4-20.
The players will then take a break from their regular season with a return of the classic Charles Dickens tale, “A Christmas Carol.”
Adapted by Brink Miller, the show will run from December 8-18 with a special deal for season ticket holders. For the first time, the Williamsburg Players offers A Christmas Carol as part of their season ticket package.
The season will continue on January 27 through February 12, 2022 with a Players original.
Written and directed by Williamsburg Players President Neil Hollands, “Mayhem on the Air” will bring the audience back to the 1940s during a recording of a live radio variety program with suspenseful radio drama, songs, comedy and vintage ads when a series of hilarious mishaps lead to Mayhem on the Air.
Sound effects for the show will be created live on stage by a foley artist.
Then from March 31-April 16, the Players will turn to musicals with “Something’s Afoot,” a spoof on detective stories, particularly Agatha Christie mysteries.
Directed by Jacqueline Kilduff and Lisa Velardi, the show combines the classic whodunnit genre with 1930s English music hall-style songs.
The season will come to a close with a grand staging of “Aida,” the iconic musical from Elton John and Tim Rice.
The classic show centers around a love triangle between Nubian princess Aida, Amneris, the pharaoh’s daughter, and Radames, a soldier of Egypt.
The show will close out the season from June 2-18.
Those who have bought Williamsburg Players tickets in the past few years will receive a brochure in the mail with an announcement of all the shows.
Hollands said that the brochure will be sent out in the next week.
Through mid-July, season ticket buyers can order through the brochure, and beginning in August, all tickets will be available on the website.
The season ticket package costs $90 for all six shows.
“That’s less than one Broadway ticket or even most touring productions, so we think it’s a great value,” Hollands said.
Students can purchase the package for $60. The program also offers a five-show season for $75 and a four-show for $64.
Auditions for “Lilies on the Land” will take place on July 18 and 19 at 7 p.m. at the Playhouse. The full audition notice will be announced in the near future.
For more information about the upcoming season, visit the Williamsburg Players Facebook page.
